Easy steps to extend battery life of your Chromebook [tutorial]

Compared to any regular laptop or tablet, Chromebooks have proven itself to be great on the battery. However, if you find your own Chromebook barely allowing you to survive the last leg of your day lately, there may be some changes that you need to do to improve the situation. Today’s brief tutorial provides the seven steps that you can do to extend your Chromebook’s battery.

Before we proceed to the main topic though, we would like to remind you that we accept requests for assistance regarding their Windows computers. If you have a problem that you can’t seem to find a solution to, send us your issue by following the link at the bottom of this page. Just remember, windows problems can sometimes be difficult to diagnose so kindly make sure that you give us very detailed description of the problem. You want to mention relevant history that may have led to the issue. The more information that you can provide, the higher the chance of us diagnosing the issue more efficiently. We also expect that you mention whatever troubleshooting step/s that you may have done before contacting us in order to prevent repeating them in our article. Again, the more details you can give us, the faster it is for us to pinpoint the cause and its corresponding solution.

Step #1: Lock your screen when you’re not using your Chromebook

Your Chromebook’s operating system is designed to extend battery life as long as possible so there’s no setting that you can change how long it enters sleep mode to turn the screen off. Chrome OS is supposed to work with much less resources as possible as well. Turning off your screen when you’re not using your Chromebook is not only a battery saver but is also a common sense step, especially if you want to leave the machine for some time. You don’t want others to take a peek at your machines while you’re away.

Step #2: Disable Bluetooth

Like the screen, turning off Bluetooth when you’re not using it is a good idea. The longer this functionality is turned on, the shorter your battery life becomes. Bluetooth constantly consumes precious battery when it’s on so you’re better off with it turned off. Bluetooth settings is usually found under Chrome’s options menu. Just go to Settings>Advanced Settings, scroll down to the Bluetooth section and uncheck the box.

Alternatively, you can always use the search field at the top of the Settings menu by typing in Bluetooth.

Step #3: Turn off wifi

Disabling your Chromebook’s wifi is a pretty situational option. It’s obviously not advisable if you need to constantly use internet connection. However, if you are hard pressed for time, can’t find the nearest outlet to charge your Chromebook, and can work with a task offline, then disabling the wifi may give allow your battery to last a few more steps for you. Whatever you’re working offline will automatically be synced to your Google backup once you reconnect your Chromebook.

Step #4: Open as few tabs or apps as possible

The more Chrome tabs or apps you open, the faster your battery drains. With that said, you should be aware of what apps or tabs to be left on when your machine is running out of battery.

As you open more tabs, more memory is used by the system, which in turn, means burning through the battery faster. Most websites regularly needs to update themselves to provide a user new information. If you tend to leave a lot of apps running simultaneously, you’ll notice that your battery will drain a lot faster than normal. To quickly close tabs, you can right-click on a tab and select Close other tabs (or your can do a two finger-press on the trackpad).

To see what is currently open, press the Windows Switcher key, then close out all unneeded apps. Chrome OS has a feature that helps you find out what web pages or apps eat up your battery. To open it up, follow these steps:

Click on the status area on the taskbar.

Open Settings.

Under Device, click on Battery.

Check the list of apps and websites that appears. This list should give you an overall picture of your machine’s battery consumption.

Step #5: Disconnect unnecessary devices

In case you’re aware, connecting your phone to your Chromebook via USB drains the battery faster, even if the device is not charging. The same is true if you’re connecting a headset or headphones. This is fine as long as you are in close proximity to a power source and can charge anytime. However, if you are anticipating long usage with uncertain charging opportunity, keep accessories disconnected.

Step #6: Lower screen brightness level

Your Chromebook’s screen is the main reason why the battery drains significantly faster. The brighter your screen is, the faster it will drain the battery too. So, dimming your screen to the lowest comfortable level for you should save a lot of energy every day.

You can adjust screen brightness by using the two upper keys on the top part of the keyboard — decrease brightness and increase brightness.

Step #7: Don’t allow updates when on battery mode

To minimize battery consumption and CPU usage while on battery, turn off the automatic update feature of Chrome and other software.

We are here to help

If you are having a problem with your Windows computer, don’t hesitate to let us know about it. We understand how frustrating computer problems can be so, more so if you can’t find the right solutions at all. Our blog exists to help PC users and Windows community deal with their problems effectively. To engage with us, just fill out the questionnaire in this link and wait for our articles to be published. In order to help as many people as possible, we only provide our solutions via posts so please don’t expect that we will respond to your emails or private messages. By making all posts public, we can share our solutions to other users in a more efficient manner. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.

PC Troubleshooting

Disclaimer

(i) EasyPCMod.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The links and images of the products we review contain links to Amazon.com, EasyPCMod.com will receive sales commission if you purchase items that we refer on Amazon.com.

Thank you for your support.

(ii) Prices and product availability shown for products we review are for references only. Although we do update our data regularly, the pricing and availability of the products we review are constantly changing, please check on the merchant site for the actual price and availability.

(iii) We are not affiliated with the device manufacturers or phone carriers we mention in any way, all suggestions are based on our own experience and research, you may use our advice at your own discretion.